Avenue residents’ grit bin safety plea

Flora Lappin and her Dewar Avenue neighbours say a grit bin is vital to stop the path outside their homes becoming dangerous in cold weather.

Published:13:30Sunday 11 March 2012

ALMOST 40 people living in just one Rothesay street have signed a petition complaining about the lack of gritting facilities outside their homes.

The residents of Dewar Avenue say falls of rain or snow during cold weather leave their pavements like ice rinks and put them at risk of injury through falling.

They have even offered to pay for the first load of grit as a goodwill gesture.

The petition has been sent to Argyll and Bute Council, which is responsible for the maintenance of the streets and pavements, and to the residents’ landlord, Argyll Community Housing Association.

One Dewar Avenue resident, 72-year-old Flora Lappin, said the lack of grit on the pavements had effectively left her trapped in her home during past cold snaps.

“It’s just like an ice rink,” Mrs Lappin told The Buteman.

“It all started last winter – I’d had a new knee the previous summer and I couldn’t get about very easily, so during cold weather I couldn’t get out at all.

“I phoned the council in December and got passed from pillar to post, from Rothesay to Lochgilphead to Campbeltown. They ended up saying that if we got a grit bin, everyone else would want one.

“But this is one of the worst places in Rothesay for icy pavements. Dewar Avenue gets hardly any sun because of the position of the buildings. I’m just worried for other people who can’t get out, or whose carers can’t get in.

“We’ve offered to pay £45 towards the cost of the first load of grit, and if they got a grit bin down here there are plenty of people who’d put it out.”

Local councillor Isobel Strong said she had raised the issue with a senior official in Argyll and Bute’s roads and amenity services department, but at the time of writing was still awaiting a response.